Facilities

Biosecurity is not one-size-fits-all. Biosecurity plans should be customized for each facility to take into account all aspects that can affect horse health. Below are links to resources that can help you customize your biosecurity plan, as well as tips on how to keep your facility disease free.

To determine the risk of infectious disease spread use this Biosecurity Risk Calculator provided by Equine Guelph. Once completed, you will also be provided with specific recommendations to improve biosecurity on your facility.

Here are our general recommendations for a biosecurity program:

Allow only healthy horses to enter the facility. Require a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI, also called a Health Certificate) from an accredited veterinarian dated within the past 14 days for all new arrivals. All horses should be required to be vaccinated

Examine all new arrivals for signs of contagious disease.

Isolate new arrivals to prevent contact with resident horses. The period of isolation should be 7 to 14 days for horses arriving from a facility with minimal perceived risk.

Immediately Isolate any horse on the property suspected of having a contagious disease, such as respiratory infection, diarrhea or fever of unknown origin.

All horses on the property should be observed daily for signs of infectious disease.

Separate pregnant mares from all other horses on the property, especially horses that travel frequently to other equine venues (e.g., shows, racetracks).

Vehicles and people are potential sources of infectious organisms. Limit access of visitors on the breeding facility to areas where they would have minimal contact with horses. For key personnel that need to have access to horses, have protocols in place to minimize the risk they pose.

Use separate/dedicated equipment such as halters, lead ropes and blankets for each horse. Clean shared equipment and disinfect prior to use between horses (remove loose material, then appropriately clean, rinse, dry and disinfect).

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Disclaimer: The United States Equestrian Federation ("USEF") and Equine Disease Communication Center ("EDCC") do not guarantee or warrant the performance of any person or entity advertising on its site. The EDCC does not control the source of the content posted on the website and as such, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such content. The information on the EDCC website is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional veterinary medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this website is for general information purposes only. EDCC is not responsible for health care decisions based on the information provided on the EDCC Website. Attending veterinarians or state animal health officials should be contacted for detailed information about specific disease incidents.